President Obama has said he's open to new ideas during his second term. Here's one that at least two states are pushing: legalizing marijuana to help ease government finances.

On Election Day, voters in Colorado and Washington approved measures that would make it legal for citizens to buy pot and smoke it recreationally. Among other things, legalizing pot would help each state raise some desperately needed revenue. But whether pot becomes commonly available, and taxed just like alcohol, depends on whether the federal government tacitly goes along with the new measures or cracks down on them, which it has the authority to do.

The federal government regards marijuana as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, in the same class with powerful narcotics such as heroin and LSD. Pro-pot groups have been pushing the feds for years to reclassify marijuana and adopt a more permissive stance, especially since some doctors believe the leafy drug has important medicinal properties. Washington has tolerated the legalization of medical marijuana, but it hasn't budged on recreational use, and last year the Obama administration reaffirmed its opposition to any changes in the status of marijuana.

The question now is whether the two statewide measures, along with others that might follow, might persuade a second Obama administration to mellow out and reconsider its tough stance against pot. The economic arguments in favor of legalizing pot are no hallucination. Forecasting firm IHS Global Insight reports that Washington state could pull down nearly $2 billion in additional revenue over five years, through fees on licenses granted to pot providers. Colorado, which would manage pot sales differently, could earn about $342 million from excise taxes over five year. In a tough economy, with voters staunchly opposed to most new taxes, that's a meaningful amount of revenue.

The government has swiped away other taboos when an economic crunch created an urgent need for new funding sources. The most obvious example is the 1933 repeal of Prohibition. State and local governments now collect more than $6 billion per year in alcohol taxes. Many states have loosened laws that once prohibited gambling, which now generates nearly $8 billion in tax revenue for states, and also provides thousands of jobs. Marijuana backers insist that legalized pot would be no more likely to generate reckless behavior than booze or gambling.

But states can't really normalize pot sales, and earn revenue from it, without Washington's approval. The Justice Department, which enforces federal law, has a few choices: It could issue a clear statement indicating that it plans to either go along with the new statewide measures or oppose them. That would either encourage state officials to establish the regulatory structure for allowing pot sales, or dissuade them.

Washington could also take no stance at all, leaving state officials guessing about whether federal prosecutors would interfere with pot sales or look the other way. That might create uncertainty over the legalization issue, but allow Obama and his fellow Democrats to avoid a political fight over states' rights or moral decay while still giving some liberals what they want.

Obama is a strong advocate of more funding for teachers, cops, firefighters, and other public service employees usually paid by states and localities. He's also a former pot smoker who scored plenty of illegal weed as a kid growing up in Hawaii. Legalizing pot could generate a bit more revenue for Obama priorities, in a way the president might have supported in his earlier days. If Congressional Republicans continue to reject Obama's other stimulus ideas, he could even say Republicans made him do it.

They really need to get it together and capitalize on legalization if they can. And I'm also curious how it could impact the drug cartels as I have been studying them of late.

Would be huge step in eliminating some major problems.no more people being forced to grow it for gangs etc.taxes to keep thing cheap or free and pay off what we can.plus to all the stoners you know for a fact it will be cheaper then the street prices or else no one would buy it from stores.

It probably won't make a huge difference as they will just shift into other drugs. The money isn't really in weed anyway. It's in the cocaine, heroin, and synthetic drugs.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. I think weed is the first step though in building a cartel. Once they become better financed and equipped they move to the heavier drugs. So taking away that first step would force new cartels on a difficult beggining.

Cartels now in control such as the Sinaloa cartel are far too powerful to deal with unless you can take out El Chapo. Can't just incarcerate him either would have to kill him and hope the new leader is weaker.

One thing I have noticed about the cartels is its all about their leaders who can make or break them. When you have a successful leader of a cartel in power the only way to stop them is kill him. Prison won't even stop them.

Edited by Special Ed, 05 December 2012 - 08:17 PM.

If you like looking at statistics to determine who's better, you're just a casual fan.

2.41 season GAA isn't very impressive. Let's not get into playoffs and his SV%.

Seems unlikely as it would require the US to withdraw from the UN Single Convention on Narcotics given the way in which the US forced cannabis into the treaty - it cannot simply be de-listed or de-scheduled. because the US insisted that the treaty when enacted deal with cannabis in the same manner as cocaine and heroin.

To err is human - but to really screw up you need a computer.

Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done and why. Then do it.

Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

Illegitimi non carborundum.

Never try to teach a pig to sing - it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

Never happen. The banks have to much invested in money laundering, also the DEA is a juggernaught with enough momentum that it will be difficult or impossible to stop them from coming down on people for even simple possesion. Colorado and Washington will be stepped on at a federal level. Reality sucks for pot imbibers.

Harper would suckle that American teat in a second!! .. he is as facile as it gets when it comes to "being the tail on the dog" .. I would legalize ALL drugs .. would save billions in the long run .. that is a thread for 2013 ..

"To Thine Own Self Be True"

"Always tell the Truth. That way, you don’t have to remember what you said" ~ Mark Twain ~

Harper would suckle that American teat in a second!! .. he is as facile as it gets when it comes to "being the tail on the dog" .. I would legalize ALL drugs .. would save billions in the long run .. that is a thread for 2013 ..

I doubt that very much.

To err is human - but to really screw up you need a computer.

Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done and why. Then do it.

Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

Illegitimi non carborundum.

Never try to teach a pig to sing - it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.

Buddha .. speaks for itself ..

"To Thine Own Self Be True"

"Always tell the Truth. That way, you don’t have to remember what you said" ~ Mark Twain ~

It always bugs me when pot, cocaine and LSD are referred to as 'narcotics.'

They are not. Illicit drugs, yes, but this desire to use a century old term, once meant for opiates et al, for all psychoactives and stimulants should stop. Using umbrella terms for them in this fashion only reinforces misunderstanding of the physical effects and dangers of each substance.

It always bugs me when pot, cocaine and LSD are referred to as 'narcotics.'

They are not. Illicit drugs, yes, but this desire to use a century old term, once meant for opiates et al, for all psychoactives and stimulants should stop. Using umbrella terms for them in this fashion only reinforces misunderstanding of the physical effects and dangers of each substance.

you had me at "you keep using that word"

+1 to you sir

Actually Vig don't Kill Dral, I believe him to mafia enough that I have dealt with him myself.

To me there are far more dangerous legal drugs and this whole issue is ridiculous. Although only use the 'recommended' dosages provided to the public when it comes to 'legal' substances. Oh and make sure to check the 99/100 things that could be harmful to you, with a physician, before taking said legal drug. I love those commercials. Maybe someone should ask Michael Jackson how he feels about drugs. Big pharmaceutical should be on trial for murder and the government with negligence. RIP MJ.

If you like looking at statistics to determine who's better, you're just a casual fan.

2.41 season GAA isn't very impressive. Let's not get into playoffs and his SV%.

It probably won't make a huge difference as they will just shift into other drugs. The money isn't really in weed anyway. It's in the cocaine, heroin, and synthetic drugs.

Actually it would make a big difference. First of all the decriminalization would help immensely; It would stop people from getting arrested for simple possession. As of right now, people with life changing diseases and illnesses can be arrested for using one of the safest medicines on the planet. I believe back in 2007, almost 900,000 people were arrested for POSSESSION. Anyone else see something wrong with that? If it was decriminalized, the police could start focusing on catching criminals dealing Heroin, Methamphetamine and/or Cocaine, rather than focusing on catching the next group of stoned kids driving out of the McDonald's drive-thru.

Legalizing it, as discussed above, could bring on great benefits. The income made from sales of the substance good bring in more money to the government, as well as slapping the underground drug industry in the face. The substance itself makes people think and become analytic, this could start to eliminate a majority of the dumb people in this world (and there's a lot of them) by actually making them think about themselves and their actions.

The Mexican Cartels *do* generate a lot of income from weed, as much as half by some estimates.

However losing that market wouldn't cripple them and may convince them to accelerate the process of taking over major retail level drug operations in the U.S. (and eventually Canada) in order to compensate.

"The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened."